Those born after 1980s may remain 'homeless'
Published on: Friday, August 28, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: Generation Y (Gen Y) will likely be a "homeless" one if house prices continue to spiral upwards, says the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations.Its deputy president, Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman, said Gen Y – usually defined as people born between 1980s and early 2000s – today would continue to stay with their parents or rent homes."Houses in cities nowadays are unaffordable, and there is a high possibility of them being 'homeless', especially in big cities like Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Penang.
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"Moreover, the trend set by developers in the Klang Valley is to develop high-end landed properties, which are unaffordable (to most people)," Yusof said.Sime Darby Property BHD assistant vice-president Marzuki Zainal Abidin said most Gen Y'ers were looking for affordable house that were close to their workplaces."There is no point of the house being affordable if they are located on the outskirts of the city, such as in Seremban or Nilai."Property players should focus on low- or medium-cost apartments or condominiums to cater to the needs of Gen Y'ers, which earn a median of RM2,500 to RM5,000 per month," said Marzuki.
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Marzuki said the 1Malaysia People's Housing Programme was a good start to accommodate the migration of Gen Y'ers from all over the country to Kuala Lumpur.PPC International chief executive officer Siva Shanker said most of Gen Y'ers had to borrow money from their parents, as they could not afford to buy houses by themselves.
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"As first-time buyers, they should not opt for big properties and, instead, choose to buy small ones. Purchasing a small property and saving until they can afford bigger houses will allow them to trade up their old properties in the future."He said condominiums, apartments, SOHOs (small office home office) and duplexes were among the main choices of younger house buyer."The facilities, such as (a) gym and swimming pool, as well as the lifestyle and privacy (associated with) these types of properties are among the (purchasing) factors."Siva said they must be prepared to live further from the city to cope with the high cost of living."The government should improve the highway network for easier access to cities."Real Estate and Housing developers Association chairman Datuk Jerry Chan said the government could acquire private land in urban and rural areas to build affordable houses."There is no running away from the fact that property prices will be much higher in the future. When the price of land goes up, the price of property will also increase."This will lead to developers opting to build high-rise buildings, like condominiums and apartments, to divide the cost of the land into smaller bits, making the property more sellable," he said.Chan, however, said he could not estimate the increase in property prices, as the price of land could not be controlled."We can't put a cap on land prices. Singapore, for example, acquired a lot of private land to develop more residential properties, which could address the issue of high property price," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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